You have to wonder what Norman Rockwell's interpretation of Thanksgiving would be today. His classic 1943 Thanksgiving painting, “Freedom from Want,” which shows Ma placing a beautifully browned turkey down for Pa to carve, family members eagerly leaning in over the dinner table and grinning at one another, doesn't seem complete anymore.

There are no digital devices to be seen, the family roles might be a little outdated and, of course, there isn't an inset panel showing a son or a daughter stocking shelves or working the checkout line at Best Buy or The Gap, both of which are open on Thanksgiving Day this year.

In competition for your holiday spending dollars, retailers have pushed what has been known as Black Friday well into the day before — that is, Thanksgiving Day. Some find it an affront to Thanksgiving traditions. For others, it threatens what have become Black Friday family traditions, too.

“Thanksgiving is a day of thanks, to be spent with friends and family,” she says, “not to be out fighting for the best bargains.”

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In years past, Pankowski, her oldest daughter and her mother would leave at 3:30 a.m., make a coffee run and be at their first store by 4. Pankowski says she's been shopping on Black Friday for about 20 years.

She says that this year, she'll shop at some of the same stores, but that the Thanksgiving openings will keep her away from others, including Walmart. More of her shopping will be done online this year, she says, mirroring a national trend.

Research company IBISWorld projects that online sales on Cyber Monday — the Monday after Thanksgiving — will grow by 13.1 percent, while Black Friday weekend spending will grow by 1.7 percent.

“My sister and I have had a longstanding tradition of Black Friday shopping together,” says Rebecca Mason, 39, of Aurora. “It's not so much about the shopping as it is about us getting together and being goofballs and having a good time.”

Rising at 4 a.m. and meeting for the same 7-Eleven apple fritters and coffee before hitting the shops every year, the sisters try to outdo one another in outrageous Christmas garb. The judges? Their fellow shoppers in the early-hours line at Walmart every year.

“We have them show us by round of applause whose costume is better,” Mason says. Last year, she defeated her sister by wearing red Santa goggles rimmed with fur, “jingle-dog earrings,” an ugly Christmas sweater to which she had added actual Christmas lights, Santa pants with a huge black belt, boots, and a Salvation Army-style bell.

Despite the slew of openings on Thursday, the sisters won't be going out any earlier this year.

“We'll stick to the plan,” Mason says, “but we won't head out any earlier or shop on Thanksgiving. We don't really think it's fair to the employees.”

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